SAGE@LL.LL.MIT.EDU (07/24/90)
To my comment > Well, it turns out that those Amstrad folks are about the least > sophisticated computer users in the world, Tim Murnaghan replied: >> There is something of a communications gap here. I bought an Amstrad >> because it was cheap and because I thought that there'd be lots of good >> CP/M software available. It turns out to be quite difficult to get the >> stuff, I've never seen anything about Z-system on it until recently in >> this newsgroup, and even the UK CP/M user group aren't very helpful as >> they have trouble with the disks (they will write them - but no >> guarantees that they'll be readable), and the magazines are full of Loco >> -stuff. Yes, there is a communications gap, but I could not figure out how to break through. When I sent contributions to magazines in Europe (even had one written in German -- checked by a German colleague of mine), I never even got replies. The same was true of all the magazines, user groups, and dealers to whom "press kits" about Z-System were sent, especially in England. There seemed to be no interest in CP/M developments at all, or at least not from a foreign source. As far as getting software is concerned, it IS quite easy. Besides me, Elliam Associates will gladly convert software from one diskette format to another, including Amstrad. I am quite sure that they sell their CP/M product line in Amstrad format, as does Sage Microsystems. >> As most of the magazines want more contributors maybe Jay should have >> tried writing an article on Z-system to enlighten the poor Loco-souls out >> there ? Mind you it's probably a bit late now. As I commented above, I tried submitting something a couple of times, but there was never even an acknowledgment. Writing articles, as I do regularly for The Computer Journal, is an enormous amount of work, and I was not about to continue doing that when there was no response. After I joined the Amstrad SIG in the U.S., I sent information about Z- System along with a special offer to just about all the activists in the group. One member took the trouble to write to me to tell me that CP/M-Plus already did everything that Z-System does (I took this as an indicator of the level of technical understanding and expertise in that community). There was only one of the activists who showed any interest, and he told me that my impression of the rest of the community as he had seen it was basically correct. There are, of course, some exceptions (besides you and me), but the number appears to be remarkably small. They probably have no way of knowing about each other, because the magazines and user groups do not address their interests. I have gotten a number of requests from people in Great Britain for names of other people with a strong technical interest in CP/M- compatible computing, and I have been happy to try to hook those people up. For many years I traveled to Germany and Switzerland trying to find or encourage the formation of 8-bit user groups. I never had much luck, though I am ecstatic that there is now a very active group in Germany, led by Helmut Jungkunz. Soon we will start to see new Z-System programs contributed by European programmers. -- Jay Sage